Sunday, January 27, 2008

Getting on

Yesterday, our younger granddaughter reached the ripe old age of 8 years. Of course, in honour of the day, presents had be offered, starting early. So, as grandparents, we did our duty - and, we're glad to say - our offerings were received with gratitude. The family gods are placated.

Of course, that was just the beginning. Great festivities were arranged at the temple of our kids birthdays - the local bowling alley. I got involved in a couple of 5-pin bowling games. My expertise showed immediately; I even exceeded 100 points in one of them (a good score is probably around 250 or so).

Our older niece also had her 27th birthday, and she was also there, along with her parents, her sister, her daughter (who would be our niece niece, I suppose). Many people are amazed by the "birthday coincidence" in their families, but probability theory predicts the chance is more than 50% once the number of family members exceeds 23. Our family and close friends number more than that - even among our family members at this birthday gathering we have two sets of people who share the same birthday.